1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-implemented vehicle manufacturing systems, and more particularly, to computer-implemented systems for integrating vehicle manufacturing operations.
2. Background and Summary of the Invention
As vehicle technology becomes more complex, the manufacturing of the vehicles increases correspondingly in complexity. Complexity increases the number of design decisions that must be communicated to the vehicle manufacturing environment. A lack of communication or poor communication of design decisions to the manufacturing environment may have a significant impact upon the quality of the vehicle being manufactured and may result in a large number of vehicles being recalled for correction.
Design decisions are also affected by what vehicle plant personnel uncover during vehicle assembly. The feedback by plant personnel needs to be more effectively and efficiently communicated to the proper design personnel.
In addition to the difficulty in communicating information between design personnel and plant personnel, a need also exists to provide vehicle design and plant data to financial departments so that costs can be accurately determined. Integration and communication of data from these different groups are difficult due to the complexity associated with the ever increasingly more technical vehicles and their manufacturing operations.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages as well as other disadvantages. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a computer-implemented method and apparatus is provided for designing and manufacturing vehicles in a distributed design environment and manufacturing plant environment. A database, preferably a relational database, is provided for storing vehicle design data (e.g., tool, part, weld, and torque data) related to the vehicles. A process sheet data structure is used to interrelate the tool, part, weld, and torque data in order to generate process sheet data that depicts the assembly process of the vehicles. The assembly process contains the steps to assemble the vehicles. A manufacturing plant data structure is linked to the process sheet data structure for containing station data and production data for assembling the vehicles in the manufacturing plants. The manufacturing plant data structure associates the station data with the process sheet data in order to indicate the assembly steps for a station contained within the manufacturing data structure. A financial data structure is used to link to the manufacturing plant data structure in order to contain financial data associated with the assembly of the vehicle and the manufacturing plant.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.